For additional information, please call or write:

UCD Clinical Psychology
Box F546
13001 E. 17th Place
Aurora, CO 80045
303-724-3609
 
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Department of Psychiatry

Division of Clinical Psychology

Primary Care Psychology Rotation

This major rotation of the psychology internship program is designed to provide interns with an opportunity to learn all aspects of working as a psychologist in primary care settings. The practice site is an outpatient Family Medicine clinic, A.F. Williams Family Medicine Center, which serves patients of all ages including adults, children, infants, pregnant women and seniors. Our patients are from a variety of ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds and we consider this diversity to be one of our greatest strengths as a teaching health care enterprise. The office is run by the University of Colorado Hospital and has been in existence for more than 35 years.

Goals of the Primary Care Psychology Track

The goal of this major rotation is to develop psychologists who can provide a full range of clinical primary care psychology services in the context of multi-disciplinary primary care health teams. We emphasize provision of such services to a highly diverse urban and sub-urban population. Interns will complete the internship identifying themselves as health care providers who are important members of health care teams.

Secondarily, interns will develop an understanding of the process and some techniques of medical education. They will become familiar with the roles that psychologists can have in medical education and will participate in the training of physicians in communications skills at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Objectives of the Primary Care Psychology Track

Specific Training Activities

Required Activities

Interns will engage in the provision of primary care psychology services in collaboration with family physicians, psychiatrists, case managers, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, RN’s, MAs, social workers, medical students and residents. These services may include:

  1. Consultation regarding behavioral health issues
  2. Consulting with physicians about patient care, mental health and health behavior change
  3. Provision of team based care
  4. Teaching and supporting patient self management skills
  5. Facilitation of health-related support groups
  6. Individual psychotherapy
  7. Health promotion/disease prevention interventions
  8. Psychological screening and assessments

Interns will contribute to the education and training of medical students and medicine residents via:

  1. Facilitation of Balint groups
  2. Small group teaching
  3. Coaching physicians in techniques of health behavior change
  4. Video taping of clinic visits
  5. Medical precepting (supervision of psychosocial aspects of medical care)
  6. Hospital rounds
  7. Collaborative care/clinical teaching

Interns will participate in ongoing research and/or program development in community based medicine with options including:

  1. Serving on grant writing teams
  2. Participation in clinical home visits
  3. Participation in practice based research working groups
  4. Focal study of a selected underserved population

Interns will master a primary care psychology curriculum through:

  1. Selected readings
  2. Attending lecture and seminar series
  3. Participation in medical school education activities, including Family Medicine and Psychiatry Grand Rounds
  4. Participation in weekly supervision sessions
  5. Supervised participation in a primary care health team

Theoretical Approaches

Dr. Seymour uses/teaches a variety of approaches from psychodynamic psychotherapy to cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral activation and health behavior change.

Population of Clients

Our patient population includes insured and underinsured patients from a large variety of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. It also includes refugees from Africa, Iraq, Iran, Russia and South East Asia, medical students and residents and medical school faculty.

Supervision

The intern will receive a minimum of 2 hours of supervision per week. The primary supervisor maintains 24/7 cell phone availability to the intern placed in the primary care center.

Supervisors

Deborah Seymour, Psy.D., (University of Denver) Associate Professor, Director of Behavioral Health in Family Medicine

Family Physicians

Colleen Conry, M.D., Professor, Vice-Chair, Department of Family Medicine

Dan Burke, M.D., Assistant Professor, Director, UH/DH Family Medicine residency

Frank deGruy, M.D., Professor, Chair, Department of Family Medicine

  

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